Lilahpops

Are you doing the April Challenge over at photochallenge.org?

So, we are halfway there and now I know why it’s called a challenge; yesterday I almost forgot to take a photo! There’s quite a bit of discipline involved in taking a photo a day on a specific topic. I know I’ll miss it when it’s all over, but I have to admit it’s starting to get more difficult to find something entropic to photograph that I haven’t tapped into in previous photos. Rust is looking good.

If you haven’t been following, or participating in, the April Challenge is all about Entropy. Decay, deterioration, chaos, disorder. You’d be amazed at how much is out there! If you have been following, or particpating in, I’d love to hear how you have been going in the comments.

Check out the new gallery of images that I have submitted to challenge (I’ll be updating this throughout the month of April). The photos are also available on my Flickr account - I created a set dedicated specifically to the April Challenge.

If you have been subscribing to Lilahpops through a feed reader then you would already be getting your daily dose of images already. You can subscribe here.

Make sure to check out all the entries in the April Challenge - there are some stunning photos.

The results from “the Fork Project” are in!

In March I entered the Iron Chef Photography project, the challenge being to photograph a fork in a creative and interesting way.

This was my entry:

There were 28 entries altogether and I am pleased (and excited) to say that I tied fourth in the Judges’ Choice with two other entries and fifth in the Public Choice.

Check out all the entries over at Neil Creek’s website - there are some stunning images to view.

Did you enter the Iron Chef Photography project? How did you fare?

Related posts

• What my blog statistics reveal about you
  
• Flickr is the key to my social photography experience
  
• Results from the Shoot Yourself project

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about my blog’s statistics for a project being run by Tibor Radványi over at photonovice.net. This project turned out to be the push I needed to sit down and analyse my web stats in detail rather than do a frantic count of page views, as is my usual way. It’s odd that I hadn’t taken the time to do this for myself because I constantly analyse web stats at work. I suppose I spend my available time writing content for my website rather than doing necessary behind-the-scenes checks on what’s working and what’s gotta go.

So, as a result of participating in this project, I discovered the direction in which this website is heading. Which has to be a good thing, right? Rather than continuing along the road in which I thought it was heading, I now know the sorts of posts people are stopping by to read.

I have to say I admire all the bloggers who set projects for their readers. I mean, you might have a good readership, but will everyone participate? I have started participating in projects but there are many that I have simply watched from the sidelines. What value can I bring? Well, you can bring a lot of value to a project just by participating! Tibor hasn’t had a huge response to his first project, so I’d like to ask if you have been analysing your stats of late please check out his project and see about submitting a late entry.

If you’d like to be involved check out the project guidelines for the next installment or contact Tibor at photonovice.net.

Here are the entries:

Now … on to the April Challenge!

This is my entry in the Blog Statistics - Search Terms project

Tibor Radványi at photonovice.net is running a new project, calling for photographers (professional, beginner, or enthusiast) who run blogs/websites to reveal the search terms that are being used to reach their websites. What weird, wonderful, or even [audible gasp] photography-related terms are being used to find your website? I can only imagine the types of search terms Tibor is receiving to have created this project!

The project does raise a few interesting questions about you guys: how do you search the web? what are you looking for? do you find what you are looking for? more specifically, do you find what you are looking for on my website? Viewing statistics can be incredibly addictive, especially when a site is new and slowly gaining traffic. But what do they really mean? I decided to dig a little deeper than usual to find out. I will, however, focus on only the search terms for the purpose of the project.

What are you looking for?

I was quite surprised to see that the search terms in my blog stats are very consistent. Most of my readers are searching for iPhoto tips and information about the vintage camera, Voigtlander Vito BL. This is a good sign because:

• a) I have a few posts on these topics;
• b) I am writing content that you are interested in;
• c) we share a common interest in photography.

I discovered many variations on the following terms (I have linked back to the relevant posts/categories):

• “vintage camera“;
• “voigtlander bl“
• “voigtlander vito manual;
• “resize image iPhoto“;
• “iPhoto editing“;
• “special effects on iPhoto“.

Over and over, variations on these themes.

Any oddities?

As I mentioned, the search terms are very consistent (can’t wait to see your results, Tibor!). Apart from the visitor who was looking for “homemade pergolas” (I did mention a pergola in one post) which is not all that photography related.

My favourite search term is in French. Again, looking for iPhoto tips: “resizer une image dans iphoto”.

Oh, there were a couple of searches on my name…no, it wasn’t me ego surfing!

How do you search?

One thing I found interesting, other than consistency of subject, is how search terms are phrased. The majority of search terms are prefaced with “how to…”, such as “how to lower resolution in iphotos for email”; “how to add colour in iPhoto”. I found this curious at first, but on reflection, I believe I search the same way. After all the usual reason we search is to find out how to do something, right?

What do these searches say about you?

Well, in regard to all the iPhoto search terms, I can see I am in the company of fellow Mac users who enjoy editing photos and sharing them. And some vintage camera hobbyists, as well. Very cool! My recent introduction to GIMP, however, doesn’t reveal what platform you use in the search terms (ie Windows or Mac) but we are interested in the same things. So, please let me know in the comments what other posts you’d like to see here at Lilahpops.

If you are interested in participating in the project the deadline is 21 March 2008.

Related posts

• Results from the Shoot Yourself photo project

This is my entry in the Iron Chef Photography - Fork project

Neil creek is running a series of projects:

The purpose of the Iron Chef Photography projects is to make you think about different ways of artistically interpreting the subject.

These projects are a good way to stretch your imagination and test your photography skills. If you haven’t entered Neil’s project yet, I urge you to get creative with your camera. There’s still time.

Get forked by 24 March 2008!

Now, I’m not a Star Wars fan but when I saw the result of this photo, all I could think of was the inner darkness (voice) taking over and The Dark Side of the Fork was created.

Click the image below for a large size in Flickr … and may the fork be with you.

Related posts

• Flickr is the key to my social photography